by Sunil Bali, 11-10-15

Several months ago, I told one of my clients that they were no longer on my Preferred Client List.

The problem was that I was being asked to jump through a series of pointless hoops, whilst being subjected to a 20% reduction in my fees.

My client responded by telling me, "But everyone else has agreed to the new terms."

The problem with herd behaviour is that its about survival and ultimately leads to frustration rather than fulfilment. There’s no point in gaining a client if you lose your soul.

Leadership expert Dr. Barry Brownstein says, "Its important to let people know what you can do and what you stand for, but its also important to let them know what you can’t do and what you won’t stand for."

Brownstein advises everyone to make a Declaration of Inner Dependence and to dismiss whatever insults your soul.

This means pulling the plug on toxic relationships, dream stealers and any form of psychic pollution that comes your way.

I’ve found that telling your truth and extricating yourself from the shackles of conformity, allow you to be more creative and add more value, resulting in customers who want to reward your authenticity with open wallets.

The flip side of the authenticity coin is that you don’t want to come to the end of your life and realize that you lived someone else’s dream, simply because you didn’t have the courage of your convictions.

Ps. This week the aforementioned client asked to do business with me again at my usual fee rate ….. without a hoop in site.

Humour

There was a man who had worked all of his life and had saved all of his money.

He was a real miser who loved hoarding money more than anything else. But as he didn’t trust banks he kept all his money at home in a safe.

Before he died, he made his wife promise him that she would put all his money in the coffin with him.

A year later the man died.

At the end of the funeral service, just as the undertakers were about to close the coffin, his wife said, "Wait a minute!"

She walked over to the coffin with an envelope, which she placed inside the coffin.

After the burial the widow’s best friend said to her, "I hope you weren’t crazy enough to put all that money in there with that stingy old man."

She said, "I’m a good Christian, and can’t lie. I did as I had promised him and put the money in the coffin with him.’

"You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the coffin with him?’

"I sure did," said the widow. "I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him a cheque.”

My Gran asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I said "Something Cuban". So she bought me a Che Guevara shirt and a beret.

Clothes, but no cigar.

Love

Sunil

www.sunilbali.com